Clinton Lumber Kings

BURLINGTON, Iowa — The Clinton LumberKings (7-4) built an early lead and held off a furious Burlington Bees (6-4) rally in the ninth inning to pull out a 4-3 victory Saturday night at Community Field.

Clinton pushed across three insurance runs over the final two innings, which proved crucial after Burlington plated three in its final at-bat to bring the tying run to the plate before falling short.

Jalen Martinez opened the scoring with an RBI groundout in the 1st, giving Clinton a 1-0 lead. The LumberKings kept the game tight until breaking it open late. In the 8th, Brytton Clements ripped an RBI double and later scored on a Drew Terpins single. Brett White added a sacrifice fly in the 9th to stretch the margin to 4-0.

That proved to be just enough. Burlington capitalized on a wild pitch to score its first run in the bottom of the 9th, and Dash Denton delivered a two-run single to make it 4-3. But Clewett managed to induce the final out and strand the potential tying run.

Clinton collected 10 hits in the game, including multi-hit efforts from Clements, Camden Clewett and Nick Meyer. Jaylen Ziegler and Clements each added doubles, and Jamie Rasmussen contributed a key pinch-hit triple.

Chance Key (2-0) led the way on the mound for the LumberKings, tossing six shutout innings while allowing five hits, two walks and striking out six. Tyler Welch followed with two scoreless frames and four strikeouts before Camden Clewett navigated a tense 9th to seal the win despite surrendering three runs.

Bees starter Kaelen Clarkson (0-1) took the loss after giving up one run over five innings. The Bee's third baseman Denton, finished 2-for-4 with 2 RBI, and Nolan Grawe added two hits and a run scored. 

With tonight's victory over the Bees, the Clinton LumberKings hold sole possession of first place with a half-game lead over the Burlington Bees, tie their best start in 11 games since joining the Prospect league with a 7-4 record and have their longest winning streak of the season with 3 straight victories. Clinton is also 4-1 on the road trip, with their only loss coming in game one of a doubleheader against Springfield. 

The Clinton LumberKings wrap up their week-long road trip tomorrow in Peru, IL to take on the reigning Prospect League Champion Illinois Valley Pistol Shrimp. Clinton is currently 3-0 against IL Valley and outscored the Pistol Shrimp 28-3 with a +25 run differential. First pitch is set for 4:05 p.m. Fans can watch the game on prospectleaguenetwork.com or listen for free on wcciradio.com or tune in on 100.3 WCCI-FM.